United Democratic Party (Kalopia)
|Seats2 Title = Governors |Seats2 = |Seats3 Title = Majatran Parliament |Seats3 = |Website = www.edik.ka |politics = Politics of Kalopia |political parties = Political parties in Kalopia |elections = Elections in Kalopia}} The United Democratic Party (Ενωμένη Δημοκρατικό Κόμμα, ΕΔΗK), commonly known by its acronym EDIK was a social-democratic political party in Kalopia. The party's last leader was Eleanna Driadou, who was elected to that position during the party's congress in 3721. The EDIK was founded on 10 January 3712 as a merger of various left-wing and centrist parties which had been part of the United Democrats opposition coalition between 3706 and 3711. While several parties merged into the EDIK, its bulk was formed by the Democratic Left Party and the Center Union. Some of the United Democrats' initial member parties fielded common candidates for the 3711 election; this co-operation accelerated the process of merging the parties into the EDIK. Shortly following its founding, the United Democratic Party was joined by eight members of the Vouli, the national legislature. In 3722, the party merged with a group of other left-of-center groups, and effectively ended all independent operations. History 'United Democrats' In 3706, a group called the National Unity Party seized power in Kalopia. The party was strictly authoritarian, and altered the constitution of the republic in order to suit its needs. In order to counter the new government, a homogenous group of political parties and associations banded together to form the United Democrats, a loose confederation of anti-government forces. The secretary general of the Kalopian Communist Party, Spyro Xenophon, soon became the unofficial spokesperson of the alliance, and was elected as its chairman in 3708. Following a conference in 3711, six parties in the alliance, including the Communists, the Democratic Left Party and the Center Union decided to field common candidates for the upcoming December 3711 elections. The list received a mere 0.4 percent of the vote, and no seats. 'Party founding' Shortly after the electoral failure of the list, five MPs for the ruling National Unity Party expressed their intention to run on the United Democrats common list. By 8 November 3711, the organisation had registered 12,000 members. Following this series of recovering minor successes, the leadership of the United Democrats showed an increasing interest in the formation of a new, united party comprising all the member parties of the alliance. A congress was held on 10 December, directly after the election, in an attempt to find common ground for the parties, with the aim of a fusion. Congress participants included Spyro Xenophon, Communist secretary general; Eleni Zoidarou, environmental protection advocate; Stavros Kakliamenas, deputy chairman of the Democratic Left Party, and Nicos Xatzigiannis, former deputy prime minister of Kazulia. The new party was finally registered as the United Democratic Party on 10 January 3712, after what has been described as a successful founding congress in December the previous year. The congress led to the election of Xenophon as party president, the adoption of a common social-democratic platform, and the election of over 40 candidates for the 3713 elections, among other things. Directly after the conclusion of the party's founding congress, a further three ex-National Unity Party MPs joined. 'The Union' Ahead of the 3713 elections, the United Democratic Party forged a broad alliance with most of the other major opposition forces, called The Union. In the election, The Union scored a massive 61 % of the vote, and took 244 of the 399 seats in the Vouli. Of these, 194 new MPs belonged to the EDIK. Xenophon was elected President of Kalopia in the presidential elections that year. Throughout the next two years, Xenophon and his EDIK government removed all taxes on essential goods; created the Kalopian Post, the country's first free-of-charge national postal system; repealed the ban on same-sex marriage; abolished torture and capital punishment; nationalised three of Kalopia's largest banks and legalised abortion. '3715 deadlock' The EDIK-led government of Spyro Xenophon passed a number of constitutional amendments throughout its first years in power. Among these, was the increase of the total number of members of the Vouli from 399 to 600. The 3715 legislative election resulted, for the first time, in complete political deadlock as a consequence. The incumbent United Democratic Party had absorbed most of its coalition partners from The Union prior to 3715, and secured 300 seats that year. However, the right-wing opposition bloc, headed by the National Unity Party, garnered the exact same amount. Furthermore, the presidency was lost to the latter's candidate, Nicholas Areleous. Thus, the legislature was divided perfectly in half, leaving both sides practically powerless, since neither could gain the upper hand against the other. In order to resolve this deadlock, snap elections were held in 3716. These were won by the United Democratic Party. '3722 merger' By the early 3720s, the EDIK had grown to dominate the legislatie Vouli. However, after Spyro Xenophon's second successive presidential election defeat in 3720, the United Democratic leadership expressed fears that the party's dominance was approaching its end. Thus, the leadership decided in 3721 to merge with a group of other parties, in order to strengthen their common impact in elections. As a result, the EDIK ceased all independent operations in 3722, when it merged with its allies. Electoral results 'Presidential elections' 'Legislative elections' 'Majatran elections' Prominent members 'Party leaders' *Spyro Xenophon (3712 – 3721) *Eleanna Driadou (3721 – 3722) 'Prime Ministers' *Evangelos Adamos (3713 – 3718) *Spyro Xenophon (3718 – 3722) 'Presidents' *Spyro Xenophon (3713 – 3715, 3716 – 3718) Category:Political parties in Kalopia